Online Passes for games not hitting pre-owned market

When EA begun issuing their Online Pass with new games it led many to believe the demand for secondhand games would fall away sharply. But according to a UK retailer Online Passes for games is not hitting the pre-owned market.

According to GAME the introduction of such passes from the various game publishers hasn’t affect the demand for pre-owned games. A report on Gamerzines is saying that the company’s Communications Director Simon Soffe, feels the move to online passes runs the risk “of confusing consumers”.

Soffe also thinks that Online Passes has failed to succeed and added that they haven’t had an any affect on GAMES pre-owned revenues. Back in June 2010 the introduction of the idea caused a lot of controversy from consumers and the gaming press alike.

Consumers who picked up a secondhand copy of a game were unable to access the online multiplayer part of it, and have also recently locked out some parts of the single player content. One such pass that caused a lot of controversy was Warner Bros decision to lockout consumers of the Catwoman’s side to Batman: Arkham City.

Passes have been held up by the publishers as a way to protect revenues from server costs, as well as make up for lost revenues at retail. Soffe feels that the secondhand market is still a benefit to everyone in the industry, and helps with the sale of new titles. Trouble is some retailers can sometimes offer secondhand games that can be cheaper elsewhere brand new, especially with older titles.

its a joke having to buy an online pass its just away to get robbed even more,example i bought bf3 didnt have a pass so bought 1 then treid to get an online game goin and the servers are down,shocking ….

JDonahue79

Looks like companies may be probably introduce a one-time use code that locks the entire game, and consumers can’t re-purchase another code.